To read or not to read? Scandinavian Crime Fiction

Sutherland Shire Libraries
Friday, April 12, 2013

Scandinavian crime fiction is currently popular across the world. Also a successful musician, the author of this book visited Australia recently. This is the third book in a series of nine so far, and was the first one published in English. It features an endearing, brilliant, yet flawed detective with a few bad habits...*Be warned- includes graphic detail. To read or not to read... you decide after reading these opening paragraphs.A Grey bird glided in and out of Harry's field of vision. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Slow time. Somebody had been talking about slow time on the TV yesterday. This was slow time. Like on Christmas Eve before Father Christmas came. Or sitting in the electric chair before the current was turned on. He drummed harder. They were parked in the open area behind the ticket booths at the toll gate. Ellen turned up the radio a notch. The commentator spoke with reverence and solemnity. 'The plane landed fifty minutes ago, and at exactly 6.38 a.m.the President set foot on Norwegian soil. He was welcomed by the Mayor of Ullensaker. It is a wonderful autumn day here in Oslo: a splendid Norwegian backdrop to this summit meeting. Let us hear again what the President said at the press conference half an hour ago.' It was the third time. Again Harry saw the screaming press corps thronging against the barrier. The men in grey suits on the other side, who made only a half-hearted attempt not to look like secret service agents, hunched their shoulders then relaxed them as they scanned the crowd, checked for the twelfth time that their earpieces were correctly positioned, scanned the crowd, dwelled for a few seconds on a photographer whose telephoto lens was a little too long, continued scanning, checked for the thirteenth time that their earpieces were correctly positioned. Someone welcomed the President in English, everything went quiet. Then a scratching noise in a microphone. 'First let me say I'm delighted to be here...' the president said for the fourth time in husky, broad American-English. 'I read that a well known American Pyschologist thinks the President has a MPD,' Ellen said. 'MPD?''Multiple Personality Disorder. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.'